I’ve been struggling with gout in my knee and ankle off and on. When it gets bad I’m almost immobile and I broke down and finally bought a cane to help me hobble around when it’s at its worst.
Mine also came from Ukraine and like you I wanted something with personality. I got an oak, ball top style stained cherry and I love it!
Physical Therapy! Do the exercises/stretches. If you need to go back and ask a doctor for another round, do it. I get it though.
Sometimes KT tape can do wonders, but it really really depends. Personally, the best was with knees and arms. I wear a different kind of brace for my ankle, a Trilok, but there are apparently a whole bunch of similar ones now.
Dude do it. I dealt with chronic pain for way too long and just accepted it as hopeless. I had tried stretches and exercises on my own with no luck so I wrote physical therapy off as pointless.
Eventually I gave in and 6 weeks in to physical therapy my pain is like 80% gone. I started noticing improvements after a week.
Even a small knife is handy. Multitools are fine, but IME I only ever use the blade, and single-purpose knives are better at being knives than multi tools. My favorite knife is a MicroTech 70; I can carry it in any pants without it feeling bulky.
Flippers are good too; I do like the clean lines on the MicroTech(s).
Maybe it’s because I used multi tools, but I can’t relate. At different points about 20 years ago, I carried a cybertool and a Leatherman (not at the same time). In both cases, I used the screwdrivers, very occasionally the pliers. I never used the blades, though. I honestly don’t know when I’d want a knife. Certainly not for a daily carry.
I have two items I bought for my upcoming Aviation Maintenance training this December. A usb rechargeable flashlight and a 17-in-1 multitool, both which will come in mighty handy these next few years
Ahh, that's an interesting angle I hadn't considered. I wonder if there's a way to quantify the water savings this way, like a volume of water per TP roll or something. I feel like that could be a solid selling point to get more people interested in buying one.
I would also add on that, unless you REALLY rocked that toilet, every poo becomes a single flush. Rather than potentially needing to double flush to avoid clogging it
While you're shopping for a bidet also shop for an Australian toilet. The half flush saves a lot more water too but the proper s-bend makes everything a single flush even if you rocked it hard.
and by rocked it I mean you filled it with mercury for some reason
To add: not everyone needs to shower daily, either. I don’t have a physical job, I shower maybe twice a week. More than enough for me. Also use Aleppo soaps, because they keep you clean longer. High oil percentage.
There are very few people in this world in my opinion who shouldn’t be showering daily or at least every other day.
I can spend all day doing nothing and still reek at the end of the day. I’m sorry but you sound gross. Ain’t no high quality shampoo. Keeping the stink off you that long.
Sounds like you don’t have enough experience with talking to people about hygiene? I know many people who don’t shower daily and are perfectly hygienic and not smelly at all, me included, and my wife. Kids definitely usually don’t need to bathe daily either. Sometimes weekly is enough. Especially infants shouldn’t rinse too much, else they develop skin problems.
If you spend all day doing nothing and reek?? Sounds like a you problem. Probably genetic.
I didn’t say “not more than once a week”, I said “sometimes weekly is enough”. So at least once a week. At least. Big difference.
But daily isn’t necessary, in fact probably more harmful than good unless they’re really muddy or soiled themselves in other ways.
Our kids keep clean. Wash hands before and after each meal, after coming home from outside, etc. Winter time is here so they have warm clothes and play in the snow, so no dirt.
I work as a developer, lots of time sitting still. Mostly just shower after exercising at the gym a few times per week. That’s enough. Otherwise no smell.
It definitely ain’t me stinking lol.
Okay? Thought you said you “reek” after 1 single day of “doing nothing”? Which is it? Will you reek or won’t you reek? You might have some hormonal issues that make your skin smelly. Might want to look it up.
After using a dedicated bidet for the first time, I was an instant convert! But the after market ones installed in existing toilets just aren’t the same. If I ever get the chance, I’ll be adding one to any house I own!
You mean those handheld bidets like a tiny shower head on a flexible hose? I actually much prefer those over the ones mounted inside the toilet bowl. I can aim them wherever I want, and I find it handy for all kinds of non-bidet things - you can hose things down in the tub or sink next to the toilet, for example, or use it to clean the toilet bowl itself.
All I can say is that if you've never tried a bidet before you'll likely be very surprised by how little sensitivity you've got to cold water down there. It's simply not uncomfortable or even particularly noticeable, either in my experience or in anyone I've talked to about it (which is admittedly not many - it's not a common topic of conversation).
The hand bidet was super cheap and the shipping was free, so I figured "why not give it a whirl?" And it worked out great.
Nope. Not sure what else to say about that, it just isn't. I guess individual tastes may vary though. If it's the temperature you're concerned about I think you'd be surprised by how little temperature sense people have down there.
ill second that, i thought it would be a problem but decided to just endure the cold because i didnt feel like running power over to the toilet but turned out not to be a problem at all. if anything its sort of refreshing lol
I’m Italian and I must support @FaceDeer 's point, these are standard in my country (and they should be standard everywhere, damn barbarians) and they are definitely better than a spray nozzle attached to a toilet. You can also use them for other things, like washing your feet.
You use toilet paper first, then move to the bidet. Which, btw, is next to the toilet, so even if you didn’t clean yourself with TP it’s pretty painless to move over.
I think there's confusion about which versions of bidet we're talking about. The kind I'm lauding, the ones like a little shower head, are attached to the toilet you're on. You don't need to go anywhere to use them, just reach over and take it from its holder.
Came to say bidet. I have the poor man version … 25 at Amazon. I suffer Everytime I have to go back to only tp when not at home. I feel like a savage caveman without one. Smearing poop is just nasty and uncivilized to me. I have used the fancy ones in Japan but really did not like the warm water. I prefer the shocking cold glaciar feeling of butt refreshes. To anyone reading this…get a bidet, ANY KIND… Try cleaning up peanutbutter from your arm with just paper to experience what we talking about .
Hanklight D4K for $50 was my first portable enthusiast flashlight. I’m currently 4 hanklights deep and they’re loads of fun out in the country for spotting wildlife and general use with the open source Anduril 2 firmware (yes, flashlights can get firmware updates).
Ooh. I have an Olight Arkfeld Pro every day carry flashlight that I love. It’s kind of flat and has a good clip for your pocket. Brightest mode is 1300 lumens and also has a blacklight and a 5mw green laser. Built solid as can be and has a lifetime warranty, including the built in battery. Love the thing.
Hank makes great lights, but I love OLights. I have 3 of those damned Arkfelds - I loved the UV one so much I got the laser version, and then they came out with the tri-function version!
It’s such a great light! The UI is fantastic, the battery indicator is pretty, the UV is incredibly bright, and kudos to them for choosing a laser color other than red - green was a good choice. The battery lasts forever, the rectangle form factor is super comfortable to pocket-carry, and (of course) the 5-mode light is bright and clean. Oh, and that tail magnet is a beast! It’s the only flashlight I carry, anymore.
That said, I’d give up some of that huge battery to slim it down. The original Arkfelds are OK, but the new tri-function is chonky. Doesn’t stop me from carrying it, but it’s right on the threshold. I could go for a smaller tri-function; the current battery is IMO overkill.
While I like the magnetic charger, I do wish it had a USB-C charge port. As is, having to travel with an extra bespoke charge cable sucks. It’s my only real beef with OLights; contact charging is nice, but I’d trade it for versatility.
The proprietary charger is my only real negative about it. If not for that, I would take a slimmer version, like the old one over the bigger battery, but since I don’t have as much access to my proprietary charger like I do with USB c all over the place I’m good with the bigger battery.
Right? If it had a C charging port, it wouldn’t need the big battery.
I’ve been carrying and using the tri-function since it arrived, at the end of October. It’s still at 4 bars. I haven’t tried to run it down, but it’s an absurd amount of battery.
A countertop water boiler. It turns out I go through just about 4L of tea a day and now I spend a lot less time boiling water. And when you refill it and it comes to temperature it plays Fur Elise
No, these devices hold water at the appropriate temperature for long periods of time using extremely good insulation. They provide hot water on-demand after reaching temperature and are used in a way that is somewhat different from kettles.
They’re a little different. Kettles are small (1-2 liters) will heat water until it’s boiling and then shut off(or have the user disconnect the heat source)
Water boilers hold a larger amount of water (3-5 liters) at a consistent temperature with a button to dispense it.
I upgraded from a kettle to a zojirushi water boiler and I’ve never looked back. The thing is incredible. Absolutely worth the price.
It’s because the USA power standards are not suitable for kettle life. The 110 voltage on their power means it takes ages to come to the boil. The idea of putting a few cups of water into a kettle, pushing a button and having boiling water inside a minute does not exist.
That’s why these tabletop things are useful: yes they take ages to initially boil, then they maintain that temperature. 110 volts is fine for that task.
There are 240v outlets in the USA, but they’re usually only used for things with heavy power draw (clothes dryers, EV chargers, electric hot water heaters, etc). Some areas have 208v instead of 240v though.
But yeah, boiling water is slow in the USA and a lot of people do it in the microwave (whereas I never saw anyone ever do that in Australia). We’ve got a Breville espresso machine that has instant hot water, which is useful for some of the use cases we’d use a kettle for.
This is kinda true and kinda not. Even on 110, an electric kettle is faster than a kettle on a gas stove. The real answer is that Americans just don’t drink much tea. My family is unusual in that regard.
This video also proves my point. And he knows it. Nearly 5 minutes to boil a litre of water? That’s hilarious!
I just replicated his experiment, with an identical bottle of water in my kettle, and was surprised that it took 2:47 to boil. I honestly would have thought it quicker than that.
This isn’t about tea, either. In fact, I boil the kettle for coffee far more frequently than for tea. I would also boil a kettle to quickly get 2L of water for cooking pasta. But since I’ve just boiled it and it’s 10:30pm, I make peppermint tea. Ahhh.
Did you miss the part about how it’s still the fastest way to boil water? Yes yes, it’s slower than yours, we’re all jealous. Even still, we would all have electric kettles if we needed to boil water all that often because it’s faster than anything else we have. But:
People don’t make pasta or rice every day, and even when you do you usually have plenty of time for it to come to a boil while you’re chopping or stirring or whatever. People who do make rice that often typically use a rice cooker.
You can’t really boil enough water in a kettle to cook potatoes or vegetables or anything else.
Coffee makers of most types typically boil their own water (yes there are pourovers and chemexes, but they aren’t that common and people who use them do buy kettles).
Nobody would buy a kettle for just cooking even if we did have more power delivery, simply because you don’t cook anything by boiling all that often. Case in point: my family drinks tea, and so we own a kettle, but tea is really the only time we boil water (in the kettle or otherwise) for anything on a daily basis.
+rep for Zojirushi. My water boiler lid recently began chipping and pretty much disintigrating and on their website I saw they even have replacement parts for discontinued products. Very cool of them
Sony wishing they didn’t make the vita is a double edged sword, because it also means you can be a completely obvious hacker, and Sony doesn’t give a singular fuck. And they still ban people for hacking on ps3, so it isn’t just age.
I got one recently too, and it’s already helping me with this. I hope you find joy in it :). I never buy myself anything so I was worried I’d regret it… but I really like it so far.
Check out “Dave the diver”. I’ve fallen out of love with gaming as well and I’ve been dropping a lot of hours into this game on my steam deck. Super unique and easy to pick up and put down. Feels fresh.
If you like platformers Bzzt just came out and would definitely run on the deck. For roguelikes I’d recommend Darkest Dungeon, Hades, or Rogue Legacy. For a straightforward RPG with 3D models but pixel art I’d recommend Octopath Traveller 2.
I also recommend Dave the Diver as well, fantastic game.
Also just ordered mine. Since I started working fulltime remote a year ago, I found myself not wanting to spend more time on my desk after work. That translated into me almost giving up gaming even though I used to love it. Moving to a place where I can have a second desk would cost me one Steam Deck per month so I just went with a Steam Deck lol
Along these lines, i’m thrilled with the ps portal as well. was only $200, but the ps online streaming is so good. i used to use it on ps4 on my ipad with an external controller from 1200 miles away at legit decent frame rate and latency.
ps portal’s display is crisp and beautiful, it looks so much more gorgeous than the steam deck (because all the rendering is done on the ps5), and there are some games that i don’t even really want to play on the big screen format that the portal has made awesome because they’re wonderful on handheld format.
The Panic Playdate. It’s just a really nice gaming console that is getting a lot of support from game devs. It’s one of the very few truly portable handhelds as it can easily fit in a pocket and the battery lasts forever too.
Arduino in the same vein. There's a great "30 Days Lost in Space" tutorial set, but even to play around with by yourself for cheap, you can get an off brand (the hardware is open source!) Arduino Mega for 20 bucks. All sorts of cool programming and electronics fun.
AdGuard Home is better since it supports DNS over HTTPS, which prevents your internet provider from seeing and intercepting your DNS queries (which they can do even if you use a third-party DNS service like Google or Cloudflare). You can get DoH working on PiHole but it’s a lot of manual work.
It’s even easier with AdGuard Home though, since it uses DoH via Quad9 out-of-the-box. People usually use solutions like PiHole and AdGuard Home because they don’t want to mess with it at the command-line, just via the web UI.